The shape of things to come?

We live in a postmodern age. I do not think this is a myth or a sociological invention. So many of the tendencies in evangelicalism today are explicable when seen against the background of this cultural megashift.

Postmodernism

One of the primary marks of postmodernism is that human reason is no longer assumed to be able to answer every question and solve every problem. Classic humanism and modernism believed reason replaced God. You just wait long enough and have clever enough people and ultimately everything will be answered. Increasingly, we are not living in that age. Now rationalism, having failed, is giving way to irrationalism.

In an irrational age, there are no absolute truths. Everything is relative. If I claim to have knowledge, and say this knowledge is true for all time and all places, I am deluded. I have been conned. All supposed knowledge is a construct, either a personal construct of my own or a social construct - a result of the thinking of a certain group of people maybe a long time in the past. These constructs, which govern my understanding of the world, are conditioned by an infinite variety of unknowable factors and influences, and it is impossible to get to the root of them. We live, therefore, in an age which is sometimes called post-ideological.

We are against grand theories of life because they are simply the result of more conspiracy theories, some poor faction of the past which has constructed them for their own reasons. So any good theories, whether it be classical Marxism or just institutionalised Christianity, are all looked upon with similar cynicism and suspicion.

Therapeutic culture

What matters above everything else therefore is what is true for me as an individual. And because this 'truth' is a very subjective thing, the postmodern culture is often described as a therapeutic culture. It is a culture when a sense of psychological wellbeing is the controlling value. It is a world when what I feel is much more important than what I think.

Now it is very important to understand that a postmodernist mindset is not opposed to a kind of spirituality that can meet my individual needs. If what is true for me is a kind of spirituality, then that is fine. There is no problem. And therefore postmodernist thinking is much more brought within the orbit of evangelicalism than the modernist thinking of the past. Modernist thinking was opposed to all spirituality and religion. If modernist thinking came into the church, it could be instantly detected because it took the form of liberal theology and we knew it had nothing to do with what was taught by the Bible. But that is not true when a postmodernist mindset is brought to bear. It can slip into evangelicalism subtly and is less easy to detect. The 'world', in the sense of this postmodernist mindset, is in the church now far more than most of us can guess.

Not that all of the cultural baggage of postmodernism is bad. Some of it has a helpful influence on our church scene. But I now want to lay out some of the tendencies in evangelicalism that I believe are at least partially attributable to this cultural megashift which provides a framework for understanding so many varied, and otherwise unrelated, issues. When seen in the light of a dramatic change in our culture's thinking, suddenly we can understand them. It will help us to appreciate that some of these trends owe more to cultural than to spiritual influences. If I can discern that, we are in a better position to be able to sort out what is good and what is not.

Current trends

As I list these changes, you can make up your own mind whether each tendency is a good thing, a bad thing or a mixture. I do not list them in any order. Some are much more important than others and it is not an exhaustive list.

1. The erosion of denominationalism

Some people are talking about the 'meltdown' of the denominations. This is hardly surprising. People commit to people and projects in postmodern culture. They do not commit to institutions because there is a suspicion of them. Where did they come from? What power base do they serve? People don't ask these questions consciously; they are part of a cultural consensus.

There is little regard for history or heritage - another postmodern characteristic that works to the detriment of denominations. Postmodernism encourages decentralisation and applauds diversity. In fact, you can stack up reasons why in a postmodern culture denominations are going to suffer.

2. The assertion of personal preference

Churches are no longer judged by their teaching but by their feel. If you ask why people like a certain church, you are less and less likely to get the answer: 'Because of its doctrinal position.' You are far more likely to find the reply: 'I like that church because of its informal style; because the people are friendly; because the seats are comfortable!'

And when it comes to doctrine, people have the same ideas. Personal preference rules. 'I really like the verse that says God is love.' Well yes, so do I. But the flip-side is: 'I don't like the references to hell in the Bible' - as though it ultimately matters what we like in the Bible. But it does determine where people are and where they go to church.

Many larger churches will cater for different tastes by having different styles of services. It is rarely thought through how this affects the unity of the church. The first thing is to respond to personal preference.

3. The replacement of theology with therapy

Self-help and self-expression are reinforced. We have encouraged the rise of small groups in churches over the past generation.

This is a result of changing cultural expectations. We are not prepared to be passive in worship. We do not want to just listen to one person. We want participation. We want discussion and sharing. Solutions are found in relationships and not truth. How I relate to people is more important than any objective truth that can be taught to me. The latest manifestation of the small group is the cell and that has other specific overtones. It enables individual and group counselling - very postmodern.

4. A thirst for subjective experience

Obviously in a postmodern culture, subjective experience is much more highly valued than objective truth. Objective truth is suspect. The same questions are asked: 'Where has it come from? Who is gaining out of it? Where is the power base?' Subjective experience is vital. Awe and wonder is consequently less important to us than intimacy in worship. I don't want awe and wonder 'out there'. What I'm sure about is 'in here'. Intimacy crowds out awe. Therefore informality will be the growing trend within church worship. Divine transcendence is sacrificed for divine immanence.

5. The sidelining of Scripture

There is a growing biblical illiteracy within evangelicalism that the rise of postmodernism would lead us to expect. The average non-Christian in our country 50 years ago knew more about the Bible than the average professing evangelical today.

Fewer evangelicals read the Scriptures. Sales of Bible-reading notes are steadily declining. Fewer evangelicals today take Bibles to their church worship. Postmodernism, above all things, distrusts words. All literature can be deconstructed. People react badly to impersonal authority and the Bible is seen supremely as impersonal authority. The inerrancy, authority, sufficiency and clarity of Scripture are very little understood or debated. John Stott once described evangelicals as 'Bible people and gospel people'. Well, I tell you, they are increasingly not 'Bible people'. Yet the ironic thing is that all who profess to be evangelical say they believe in the authority of the Bible. How much excess would be avoided if they really did!

6. Revolution in leadership

Leadership training in the New Churches tends to be local. Mentoring is the buzz word. On-the-job training is growing. In many ways that is a good thing. But again, one reason is that there is a suspicion of institutions - namely Bible colleges and seminaries. The result is that many leaders are poorly trained theologically and that has a knock-on effect on the life of the churches.

7. The development of the whole person

Our culture is needs-centred. Evangelicals, because of the cultural shift, are no longer concerned by the jibe of 'social gospel'. They are trying to see the physical, emotional, social and spiritual needs of a person as being inter-related. We see a growing involvement in social action, ethical issues and political campaigning.

8. Uncertainty regarding Christian lifestyle

This is a very important one. You can readily appreciate that a lack of biblical teaching, together with a fear of legalism and of mere conformity to evangelical tradition conspires to produce a generation of evangelicals who are 'worldly'. How do we tackle this? We need to know. Many who profess the label 'evangelical' are indistinguishable in their tastes, their leisure pursuits and their priorities from many in the world today.

9. The expectation of immediate spiritual gratification

The demand is for instant access to God and for his blessings on my terms now. Why should God be so cruel as not to give them to me if he is there and is a God of love? After all, I don't need to wait for anything in the world any more - I can get same-day deliveries of most things and fast food from McDonalds! Is the world kinder than God? God's got to give me what I want and now. Otherwise it's a bad witness isn't it? And in any case, there isn't time to wait. The culture doesn't give me time. I don't have time to think, or to pray, or to read my Bible, or meditate. So I've got to have these things packaged for me in a way that I can instantly swallow and produce the fruit. Evangelicals exist on a extremely small or non-existent diet of personal devotions. This is desperately serious.

10. Loss of gospel clarity

Evangelism today is becoming increasingly understated. There is a reliance on people drifting in and picking up some kind of Christian lifestyle, piece-meal. There is little gospel confrontation. You do not confront in our culture. It is impolite and Christians must be polite. There is little confrontation with sin. There is little emphasis on repentance. There is great vagueness about essential gospel doctrines.

11. Limited range of worship styles

You would have thought that in a postmodern culture there would be variety. But here we buck the trend because there is a desire for a certain kind of warm worship. Look at styles in music. It's nearly always soft pop, soft rock. The resultant loss of historic hymnody has led to the drastic narrowing of the doctrinal and practical content of what is sung. Churches that indiscriminately reject either the old or the new are governed by cultural considerations rather than Scripture.

12. The growth of the personality cult

We live in an evangelical world where dominant and extrovert leadership is to the fore. Many churches do have humble leaders - but the ones who really 'make the grade' are extroverts.

There is the danger, of course, of a new priesthood as believers follow blindly. After all, what tests can they apply?

13. The desperate naivety of evangelical churches

This is frightening. Blind trust is inevitable when there is no Bible to verify practices. Or if the Bible is there, no one knows how to use it. When you have thrown out your heritage and history, and you haven't got a Bible and don't know how to use it, you are going to be naive and gullible. You are going to be prey to whatever comes alone. You are just swept along by cultural trends. You haven't got a clue why you are doing what you are doing. It's pathetic and desperately serious.

Where might all this lead?

Let me give you a few worst-case scenarios of where this might end.

1. The utter disintegration of any evangelical consensus

One commentator says: 'The judgement of (post)modernity upon the church is that it is best understood as a privatised utility, dispensing a franchised commodity called religion. Many contemporary cultural analysts regard that commodity as being capable of being packaged to satisfy a variety of tastes and personal preferences.' Then he gives seven ways in which the church might fragment:

i) Raves in the nave for the young and trendy.

ii) Charismatic sweet-talking with Jesus for the hurt and self-indulgent.

iii) Austere ritualism for the aloof and conservative.

iv) Evangelical biblicism for the out-of-sorts moralisers and complainers.

v) Self-help meditation for the introverted and confused.

vi) Syncretistic mysticism for the effete and intelligentsia.

vii) Radical social action for the disillusioned and disenchanted. (1)

You could see evangelicalism dispersing in all these directions and no group talking to any other and all with desperate problems of their own. We blow apart.

2. The therapeutic model takes over completely

This is the most dominant trend. Personal needs are the overwhelming centre of attention in our postmodern culture. So this will overwhelm the church.

I have seen a cartoon which sums up the therapeutic 21st century evangelical congregation. It is a picture of a notice-board outside a church. Over the top it says: 'Try us. You'll like us. We're nice people.' It is called 'Comfort Zone Community Church'. Its 'pastor/consultant' is Bea A.T. Ease. '10.00am: Support Group of Your Choice. 11.00am: Community Gathering in Pursuit of Spirituality. 7.00pm: Celebration of Family Life in the Intimacy of Your Own Home. Music - drama - sermons, designed for your listening pleasure.'(2)

We are nearly there in some churches.

3. Successful evangelicalism lapses into liberalism

Evangelicalism has grown enormously since World War II. Will its success and concern to find acceptance lead to liberalism? Alister McGrath's view of the current evangelical scene is considerably rosier than mine, but even he ends his stimulating survey with this caution: 'If I were rash enough to predict the future, that prediction would take the following form. The movement (evangelicalism) will continue to grow numerically in the next generation, and achieve a still greater academic, social and political significance. Yet with this growth and increasing acceptance will come the risk of becoming another form of the liberal Protestantism which dominated the European and American churches of the late 19th century. This need never happen; it remains, nonetheless, a real possibility.'(3) The so-called 'post-evangelicalism', though it raises some good questions, is part of this trend. Another related move in this direction is the floating of the idea of the 'openness' of God, where the Creator is robbed of virtually all his divine attributes.

4. Evangelicalism becomes yet another self-serving special interest group

We will compete with others just for our slice of the cake. Yet the truth of the gospel exists for the world, not for our benefit.

Christianity once sold out to modernism and the fall of modernism pulled down with it liberal theology. If the church sells out to postmodernism, the result is going to be just as disastrous.

When evangelicalism capitulates to the spirit of the age, the gospel is lost. When it sold out to modernism, we lost the whole realm of the supernatural. If we sell out to postmodernism, we will lose the truth itself.

How do we respond?

What is the need of the hour? The Briefing recently re-published three possible responses to the way evangelicalism in the West is going.

How do we respond? There are three possibilities. Conservative reactionaries, trendy reactionaries and actionaries.

1. Conservative reactionaries

These are evangelicals who insist on being trapped in the cultural ghetto of the past. They 'constantly hark back to the golden age of their youth. They oppose change and seek merely to repeat the performance of yesteryear. In so doing, they calcify the gospel ministry in the culture of another day and another age, and assure us of an ever-diminishing future . . . Evangelicals tend to be conservative theologically and therefore are prone to this syndrome.' It is refusing to engage, saying: 'Let's hide and wait for it to go away.' It won't.'

2. Trendy reactionaries

These are the evangelicals who are trapped on the cultural bandwagon of the present. The danger is that you leap out of the ghetto and jump onto the latest fad which happens to be passing.

'Their response is to follow the latest trends and fashions of the society around us. This is still not action based upon our own theological foundation - it is simply mimicking the competition (and always staying one step behind). Gradually, we are sucked into theological compromise as we accept other people's patterns of ministry. Because we are trendy, we do not realise that we are reactionary. We think that only the conservatives are reactionary. But when non-evangelicals are setting the agenda, we are not acting - we are reacting.'

3. Biblical actionaries

'This is the path forward - to act, not react. We have to dig back into the truths of the gospel and gain fresh confidence in our evangelical theology. It is only as we are convinced by the truth of God's word and explore and rediscover its implications, that we will be able to propagate evangelical truth in our world. A renewed confidence in the evangelical position will equip us to adopt genuinely evangelical methods. We will be able to discard the cultural baggage which was not essentially evangelical. And we will discover new cultural baggage necessary to communicate with our society and not inconsistent with the message we proclaim.'(4)

We must learn how to engage with our culture without compromising the message of the gospel. As our culture changes and owes less and less to Christian influence, it necessarily becomes a more hostile environment for the proclamation of biblical truth. While we need not go so far as to say 'the medium is the message', the medium certainly greatly affects the message and must therefore be selected with great care.

Only by bringing the Bible to bear can believers rightly assess the complex task of cultural engagement. It is nothing short of tragic if those who desire to be culturally relevant do not know how to apply the Scriptures to the task, while those who know how to understand and apply the Scriptures do not care to be culturally relevant.

We have an enormous responsibility to try to stem the tide of biblical illiteracy that surrounds us.

It is criminal and wrong for us to cut ourselves off from fellow Christians who have lost their Bible-centredness. We need to seek, humbly, to influence them, promoting biblical unity and not despairing of it. This may involve a little less shouting and a little more listening.

Postmodernism sees the end of the cul-de-sac and knows no way out. What a message we have of a universal God, concerned with all human life, who redeems those who call on him!

Jonathan Stephen

(1) Colin Greene, Transmission, Spring 1998
(2) Current Thoughts and Trends, December 1995
(3) Alister McGrath, Evangelicalism and the Future of Christianity, p. 191-192.
(4) The Briefing, reprinted in Issue 200 (March 13 1998) from Issue 1 (April 15 1988).

The effects of the post-modern age on evangelicalism and possible evangelical futures